12 Protesters Wounded; Tutu Accuses S. Africa of Terrorism

Police clashed with anti-government demonstrators Friday in townships of the volatile western Cape, wounding 12 people, as Anglican Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu accused the government of using terrorism to crush political unrest.

In a late-afternoon bulletin, South African police reported more than a dozen street battles between police and demonstrators Friday and said they used pistol fire, shotgun bursts, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse mobs hurling stones and gasoline bombs.

At least 12 people, including seven police officers, were wounded and six others arrested.

In Cape Town, a memorial service was held Friday for 28 people reported killed in clashes in black and mixed-race townships on election day, Wednesday--one of the bloodiest days of violence since 1985. Human rights lawyers said up to 200 were injured. A 29th person, a child, reportedly died Friday.

The service at St. Georges Cathedral was attended by about 500 people, including a number of Western diplomats.

“I wish this was just a nightmare, and somebody would wake me up and tell me this is not true,” the stern-faced Tutu, a Nobel Peace laureate, told a news conference punctuated by the lamentations of relatives of victims.

“This (loss) has been forced upon us by a vicious government,” he said. “This government terrorizes our people, and I hope the international community which opposes terrorism will note this.” He also addressed the church service.

Both Tutu and Rev. Allan Boesak, the Reformed Church leader, urged their followers to protest the killings by marching on Parliament when it convenes Wednesday.

Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok accused Tutu and Boesak of “deliberately misleading the world” about the violence. Police have confirmed only 15 deaths in the area Wednesday night, blaming most on factional fighting.

Also on Friday, a Law and Order Ministry spokesman said police are investigating foreign television news crews for allegedly broadcasting scenes of unrest internationally. Such broadcasts violate South African emergency regulations for the media.